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The Museum’s Collections document the fate of Holocaust victims, survivors, rescuers, liberators, and others through artifacts, documents, photos, films, books, personal stories, and more. Search below to view digital records and find material that you can access at our library and at the Shapell Center.

Shmuel M. Holocaust testimony (HVT-3913)

Oral History | Fortunoff Collection ID: HVT-3913

Videotape testimony of Shmuel M., who was born in Stakčín, Hungary (presently Slovakia) in 1926, one of three children. He recounts his maternal grandparents living with them; attending public school and cheder; his bar mitzvah; attending gymnasium in Snina for three years; Hungary allying itself with Germany; deportation with his family to the Kolomyi︠a︡ ghetto; their transfer to Horodenka; arrest with her father while attempting to smuggle themselves to Slovakia; imprisonment in Sanok and Tarnów; deportation to Auschwitz/Birkenau; slave labor hauling cement bags; his father being killed; being trained as a mason; a brief hospitalization; many deaths from exposure; the barrack secretary providing extra food and providing help when he was ill; frequent beatings; transfer to Mauthausen in open train cars; a Czech woman being shot for throwing them food; transfer to Melk, then Ebensee three months later; slave labor in an underground mine; liberation by United States troops; traveling to Hungary; reunion with an uncle; returning home; learning one sister had survived; joining her in Budapest; and emigration to Israel. Mr. M. discusses the “second class” status of survivors in Israel; sharing his experiences with his daughters; and his military career. He shows photographs and documents.

Learn about over 1,000 camps and ghettos in Volume I and II of this encyclopedia, which are available as a free PDF download. This reference provides text, photographs, charts, maps, and extensive indexes.